Gift Guide Day 25 and counting down… i’m excited to present the Elsewares page! These guys have been one of my favorite stores since back in 06, and were a huge support when it came to NOTed, our first photoshoot ~ and we lucked out that they happened to be across the street and believed in our experiment as vague as it sounded! Anyhow, check out today’s gift guide to see some of my favorite products they’re currently stocking! (And yes, they were kind enough to help sponsor the gift guide as well ~ and for any that missed the announcement yesterday, of the 31 days, all of our 9 sponsors get one day where i show you my favorites from there stores, and so you get a chance to see these earlier, this will be a full sponsor week! Until i got nuts with randomness on the weekend again…)

As much as i’m not a snow person, when i saw this incredible fold up sled with shock absorbers on Born Rich, i suddenly wanted to be bouncing and sliding down a snow covered hillside… Some great quotes from their site “Only 6 1/3” flat when folded. Take it from the boot to the piste in a jiffy.” - “Corrosion-resistant aluminium andbreak-proof polycarbonate.” - “No longer miss out on high-speed sledging fun, just because there is no space for bulky sledges in your car.”

“Give Good Food to your Mac” time… basically a series of developers met up at WWDC and have teamed up to offer you discounts on bundles up to 70% off for about 12 days… “While San Francisco was getting ready for the grand opening of Pixar’s new movie Ratatouille, with a smell of French Cuisine in the air, we had the idea of organizing a great Mac feast with Mac apps made by the top European developers. ‘Give Good Food to your Mac’ was born. ‘Give Good Food to your Mac’ is a community action where independent Mac developers come together and build this exciting project : for about 12 days, every Mac users are able to download and taste more than 25 great Mac applications and enjoy discounts ranging from 30 to 70%.”

Gift Guide Day 26 ~ are my picks from our sponsor Delight! Since someone asked on the last post ~ just to clarify (sorry i was slow about this, its been a crazy week) ~ all sponsors are stores i already admired and love, and during the gift guide’s 31 days i will dedicate one day to each sponsor where you get to see my picks from their stores (*luckily the stores trust my taste and let me do this*). Today, i’ve filled the guide with products from their Editor’s Picks which are always available… but don’t forget about their New Arrivals, because Delight launches a new product every day at noon (and keeps them in the store for 30 days, or until sold out, whichever comes first).

Noon Solar. Just in time for holiday wishlists… a line of solar bags that look great. I am currently debating whether to order the black Cortland Tote…. and they were smart enough to put the solar panel on one side so you can easily choose whether to face it outwards, or have it face your body and look like a sleek leather tote… well a tote with “entire exterior and interior constructed from Bavarian sourced, chrome-free, naturally tanned and dyed, full-grain cowhide leather and naturally dyed hemp cotton blend” to be precise. It looks like the perfect size for a 15” macbook pro… close ups below of the bags and the technology within… read more about the solar power and battery pack here. Also a great potential gift for the men in your life… their Logan Satchel in brown. Isn’t it about time someone put solar panels to aethetically appealing use? (Yes, i’m thinking of you, ugly solar backpacks.)

By now i’m sure you’ve heard about and seen the flashy Virgin America website and all the sweet goodies they’ve packed on to their flights - from the plugs at every seat, the neon purple/blue mood lighting, ordering drinks, movies, and tvshows with the swipe of a credit card, seat to seat chat (yes. imagine the possibilities… close quarters stalker possibilities on a long flight?!?!), google maps to track where you are, and even the cutest animated saftey video (youtube below). Anyhow, i got a chance to fly Virgin America for the super quick flight up to SFO from LAX for the Oakley event… and since my hour long flight was delayed another hour (sf fog!) i took some pics of the plane, my empty row, and the RED Entertainment UI while i was sitting in there. (I also found a nice little video of the UI in action on Youtube).

Wow thanksgiving was a bit different this year. Apparently technology = bonding? Was this true for you too? Did your wii, xbox 360, and cell phones change the social dynamic of the feasting?

I haven’t done a big family one (or been in the states for it) much the last decade… so it was funny to see everyone all grown up and out of college at my aunts, and we had a new set of young ones (twins 7 and 4) and all of us 20 somethings to entertain them. Just thinking back on what we did as kids at thanksgiving… we probably ran around outside - pool/basketball/tennis/etc, built forts, board games? movies? played lots of mortal kombat, sonic, etc? Well it certainly feels like times have changed… i brought down a plate of cookies and a basket of wii games as my contribution… the cousins had the wii projected on the wall ~ and hours were spent introducing newbies (who quickly got competitive!) to wii golf, tennis, and guitar hero… (fascinating watching how quickly even the 4 year olds would pick up mii making and game playing - not to mention how impressive the 7 year olds were at guitar hero)… the older generation was singing along… and when the little ones got bored early at dinner ~ their instant amusement? Borrowing camera phones and running around taking pictures and asking to keep them (i was slightly surprised they weren’t emailing them to themselves)…

Gift Guide 27 is a page of designer tech accessories to explore ~ from hulger’s bluetooth phones and toyo ito’s usb hub to the ultimate shell to hide your video game controllers in plain site and the lelo elise pleasure object…

I can’t stop giggling. The latest Barney’s Babble Live cracked me up… only Simon Doonan (Barney’s Creative Director) can get away with asking things like whether these “sequins are made of tofu by blind lesbians” seriously… and then look at Julie Gilhart (Barney’s Fashion Director) and as seriously as he discusses her future relationship with Prince Charles (her future *green* husband) he asks her “Do you have a composting toilet at home, Julie?”… and tells her how he can feel the sheep (as sheep dances by) in the ecological wool scarf. All with a little green gnome sitting between them. OH, and the intro and exit music feel straight from one of those claymation rudolph/snowman films of my childhood… so cute.

Anyhow, stepping back ~ Barney’s has gone green this holiday season, and i’ve been swooning over their fonts and catalog layouts… and then further browsing the awesome Green Holiday catalog, i ended up watching the video ~ both of which include everything from Arbor skateboards and this great green Goyard Matellier Depuis Recyclable Canvas bag of all natural materials and a recycle logo, to the new Loomstate for Barneys Green line, Phillip Lim’s organic dress, and more. So see below for my favorite pages of the catalog, and some of the graphics from their mailers, gift cards, video and more.

Day 28 ~ Today i present you with a playful collage of products i think few creatives won’t find at least slightly amusing… everything from the VISUALIZE Bat and the Little Know It All book to inspiring calendars and Critbuns…

Swims. First impression? Are these the tuxedos of crocs? Can i really go puddle jumping with these and protect my nice shoes (that aren’t heels.)? Love the photography! and web design! (particularly the way you access the gallery with the little stack of images on the far right. And then from there, i actually started reading… The Swims story is an interesting one of Johan, who grew up in norway and never let go of the galoshes that his grandfather had passed down to him… and as he moved to paris and new york and even put in his time at Parson’s he realized that there was a need to develop Swims, the “modern galoshes”. Being a socal girl, i have never gotten quite caught up on the vocabulary of people with “real weather”… apparently Galoshes are “overshoes that slip over the wearer’s indoor footwear but is made of waterproof material to protect the more delicate materials of the shoe as well as the wearer’s foot from cold and damp”.

Fun detail other than great packaging… the “ballerina” version for ladies leaves trees where you step… and see some of my favorite images from their catalog below as well as close ups. And i know these are one of the trend blog post subjects that are everywhere this week, but they were so cool and no one covered the great photography aspect, so i couldn’t resist.

On new excuses to travel ~ my latest is to go to Europe via Frankfurt airport, because they just got the largest Porsche Design airport store. This is the latest addition to their rapidly expanding line of airport franchises currently in airports such as Munich, Vienna, London, Moscow, Dubai and Hong Kong. In 2008, new stores are to be opened in Zurich, Copenhagen and Manchester. These are in addition to their retail stores which are currently in Hamburg, Tokyo, Berlin, London, and New York. It’s been fascinating to see how airports have quickly been evolving into high end malls of sorts, and how can we resist jetsetting to shop the airports as well as the cities? So next time you’re in FRA - look for the new Porsche Design Store, “the 145 square meter store is on the second level of Hall B, on the so-called “landing side” of the airport, the area that is generally accessible without security checks.”

Gift Guide Day 30 and counting down… since it’s Thanksgiving, in addition to food, that means dealing with family, food comas, heinous traveling… so what better than some gifts (gifts for yourself can still count as gifts) to help with relaxing, distracting, amusing, and ultimately survive the holidays!